Tell-Tale

GLAAD Best Play of the Year nominee

Lenore Usher is not a well woman. The author of a sensational bestselling medical book and recently divorced from her rich diet-doctor husband, Lenore has sealed herself up in her stark, white penthouse overlooking Central Park. She’s afraid to leave her home. She’s having nightmares. She’s denying herself anything that used to give her pleasure: smoking, sex, pepperoni pizza. Apart from a pet raven, Poe, Lenore only has the company of her (seemingly) trusty housekeeper, Cora, who tends to her every need. But nothing here is what it seems.

What Lenore doesn’t know is that her ex is plotting to kill her to end her alimony drain on his fortune. He hires a hunky young hustler to pose as a pizza delivery boy and to get inside Lenore’s apartment. The stud succeeds in getting in, but when Lenore sees the knife with which he means to kill her, she unexpectedly fights back, killing him. In her panic, she dismembers him, hiding his body parts and belongings throughout her apartment. But his buried pager’s incessant beeping begins to drive her mad.

Meanwhile, Cora has been having an affair with Lenore’s ex-husband and has been plotting against her. Will Lenore be able to outsmart this diabolical duo, or will she fall prey to their murderous mission? When all three converge in the apartment one dark and stormy night, only one of them will emerge alive.

“Almost impossible not to have a good time!”
— The New York Times

“Singing! Dancing! Sex! Murder! Puppetry! Dismemberment! This show has it all.”
— Time Out

“An Edgar-Allan-Poe-meets-Carol-Burnett two-fister that is delightful from start to finish… This is a show with so many surprises it will leave you exhausted from clapping.”
— In Theater Magazine

“A ribald, titillating pastiche of high camp and low art. Tell-Tale is an Off Broadway gem.”
— The Village Voice

“Take one portion ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’ Add a twist from the life story of the late Dorian Corey, star of Paris Is Burning. Throw in bits and pieces from ‘The Raven’ and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’ Stir with the premise from Diabolique … and you still won’t know what delicious campy fun is awaiting you.”
— Backstage

NYC PREMIERE
Produced by Theatre Couture at P.S. 122, transfer to the Cherry Lane Theater, Off Broadway
Directed by Joshua Rosenzweig

CAST
Sherry Vine, Jackie Beat and Mario Diaz

Set and lighting by Kevin Adams, costumes by Marc Happel, puppetry and special effects by Basil Twist, choreography by Jane Comfort

Charlie!